Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation.

Every so often a movie comes along that blows your mind right through the back of your skull and replaces it with golden sunshine and smiling puppies. DAVE MADE A MAZE is that movie, and it is such a delightful marvel, completely original and magically delicious, that I want to watch it again. Right. Now.

Dave (Nick Thune) has spent the entire weekend creating a fort (of sorts), made entirely out of cardboard, in the apartment he shares with girlfriend Annie (Meera Rohit Kumbhani). When Annie comes back home after a short trip, she is surprised too see the large, boxy structure, and even more surprised to hear the voice of her boyfriend coming from inside the cardboard building, claiming to be lost somewhere deep in his maze.  Annie is confused, pointing out that the maze is only a few feet in length and width, and he could easily just cut his way out. Dave ominously intones, “It’s bigger on the inside.”

Despite Dave’s protests to just let him finish his work inside and everything will be okay, Annie quickly gathers a few of their friends together in the apartment in order to enter the maze and rescue Dave, including Harry (James Urbaniak) the leader of a small documentary crew, and Gordon (Adam Busch), Dave’s best friend.  When they all pile into the cardboard labyrinth, they discover that, much like the abode in the book House of Leaves, the inside is much much bigger than the outside.

Dave has been busy. There are rooms within rooms, all made out of cardboard: cardboard tables and chairs, cardboard pots and pans, cardboard optical illusions, paper cranes that fly around on their own, a giant cardboard head that spews out bits of colored paper–oh, and cardboard booby traps that kill people.

Yes. People are gonna die, but instead of blood spurting out from their mortal wounds, bright red confetti sprays out. It’s shocking and hilariously incongruent, yet feels absolutely right for the world the filmmakers have created (heh) in this film, especially after the characters have all turned into paper bag puppets of themselves as they travel through one of the rooms.  

Have I mentioned the Minotaur yet? No? Okay, there’s also a Minotaur guarding the labyrinth, snorting and stomping ever closer to our lost group.

This makes it all sound like a big mishmash of weirdness, and it’s not. Or, I guess, it’s not just that. It all makes sense and it all works and it’s all fascinating and engrossing and even manages to make some deep commentary about artists and their work and the role of friends in one’s life.  Director Bill Watterson and writer Steven Sears should be applauded wildly for their unique, original vision, and for having the intestinal fortitude to carry this craziness all the way through to its logical conclusion. The storyline never falters in its high-wire balancing act, and a big part of its success is due to these two.

Another kudos-worthy part of this gem is the uniformly great acting. Every single actor in this movie treats their circumstances (and each other) with the utmost sincerity, even as those situations become ludicrous and silly. That sincerity and believability carve right through the weird circumstances and get to the heart of every single scene.

I can’t end this review without mentioning the set design and decoration. Holy crap, so amazing! Each room the group visits is new and unique, with its own theme, its own pitfalls, and its own interior design. Some of the walls are totally patchwork quilt-like, others follow a distinctive pattern, some are wildly artistic, some are plain, and they all work together as a cohesive whole, and (even more importantly) as a glimpse inside Dave’s scattered psyche.

DAVE MADE A MAZE is a damned marvel, and it made me giddy to watch it. This has my highest recommendation, and I hope you’ll take a brave, deep breath and step inside Dave’s maze soon. Watch where you step–wouldn’t want you to explode into a shower of red confetti.